Should the New York Jets stick with QB Mark Sanchez?

December 26, 2011 · No Comments

By Eric Schmidt

One question New York Jets fans will be asking this week as the regular season winds down will be, ‘Is Mark Sanchez the quarterback of the future for the New York Jets?’ Sanchez is coming off a very poor showing against the New York Giants, a game which saw him commit three turnovers and finished the game with a 54.2 passer rating.

Sanchez attempted a career-high 59 pass attempts on Saturday, completing 30 for just 258 yards. The Jets finished the afternoon with fewer yards per attempt passing the ball then they had yards per carry running the ball. (3.8 vs 4.2). After the game, Sanchez told reporters, “I need to play better….I left a lot of completions out there”.

You would have thought that if the Jets were going to put the ball in the air nearly 60 times against a Giants secondary which has been decimated by injuries this season, that the production from Sanchez would have been better. Sanchez has showed some glimpses of progress this season, limiting his turnovers but now has four interceptions in the last two weeks. However, as Sanchez’s third season winds down, you would have hoped that Sanchez was further along in his development at this point in his career.

There is still a very slim chance of the Jets advancing to the playoffs if things play out in their favor in week 17, but even if they reach the playoffs, there need to be some changes made with the Jets in 2012. Is it time to jettison QB Mark Sanchez? I don’t think so, but one change which should be made is the release of Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

The offensive play calling in the Giants game was suspect, as it has been most of this season for the Jets. The offense has been just average this season, ranked 21st in passing offense and 22nd in the running game. The Ground and Pound offense of the Jets struggled to get untracked for most of this year. RB Shonn Greene is just 1 yard shy of reach 1,000 yards for the season, but the Jets expected more from him. Veteran RB LaDainian Tomlinson has really showed his age this season, dealing with injuries and should not be retained for the 2012 season.

Only one wide receiver has over 50 receptions for the Jets, Santonio Holmes with 51.

Changes need to be made this offseason and it needs to start with the offensive coordinator. The Jets should give Mark Sanchez one more season before anyone decides replace the quarterback position.